I've tried to register at the Open Plane Sims site to ask there, but I never received the activation thing back by email, so I can't get in. I've read all the forum threads there, but have not seen anything that helps with my problem. In desperation, I'm asking you!

Problem is thus- FS used to work fine, complete with all plane packs and patches etc, on Windows 98. I've just upgraded to Windows 2000 Pro with Service Pack 4, and now, FS won't work! Even on a completely new, basic install, this is what happens- the title page loads, the menu is there, but as soon as I select anything to go fly, the loading screen fails to appear- it's just black, and sometimes just the ticks appear, sometimes they don't, and it never goes any further.

If you could possibly help with any advice at all, or maybe enquire for me as to my registration request (using this email address) at OP sims, that would be great. I'm REALLY stuck, and really need some help!

Hmmm, I know Windows 2K has some compatibility problems with games. Did he try running it in Win 98/Me compatibility mode, because if he checked 95 or NT it might still cause a problem. Unfortunately I never ran Win2K only 98 - ME and XP, so I don't have first hand experience here. As for his forum registration. If he is using webmail like Yahoo, or Hotmail, it could possibly be sending his authorization into his junk mail box via the spam filter. Have him check in there._________________

What version of FS:SDOE does he have? I think applying 1.5 to the already patched european version can cause problems possibly?

I used to also have problems with a voodoo card depending on the desktop color quality. He might try right clicking on the desktop then preferences, settings and alter between 16bit and 32bit and see what that does for him.

I have no idea why my first attempt at registration never got me an activation reply, but I'm in now anyway, and boy do I need some help from you guys please!

I'll go through everything again-

I had FS running fine on my Windows98 PC, complete with some old patches and plane packs etc.

I just upgraded (not fresh installed) to Windows 2000 Professional, and FS then acted thusly-

The title and menu screens come up fine, but once I've selected what I want to do- Spitfire training, or anything- the loader screen does not appear. Everything goes black, and sometimes the ticks for terrain etc appear down the page, sometimes they don't. At the end of this the music starts, but the screen does not change, and the game never goes any further than this.

I tried again with a totally basic install of the game only, with exactly the same results.

I carried out the application compatibility thing as detailed here and elsewhere on the net, and still, nothing.

Which is where I'm at now.

Help MUCH appreciated...I'd hate to have to sacrifice my long-time enjoyment of this old beauty thanks to some numb-nutz Bill Gates issue...

OK, i think the isssue is the upgrade. I'm assuming you had SDOE installed before the upgrade. I'm think something got corrupted in the registry concerning SDOE. What I don't know. Are any other games affected?

I'm not the SDOE expert that these guys are, but I doubt that an old video card would cause problems with an old game - especially when it worked before.

OS upgrades are BAD ideas. M$ should never have included that option for the client OS's. I've never seen a case where an inplace upgrade worked as well as a scratch install (I work in IT and was a repair tech at CompUSA for a while).

If at all possible, I would recommend Windows XP Professional and a full rebuild (from a formatted hard drive, use NTFS). If that isn't possible, then I would recommend rebuilding your 2K Pro box from scratch - back up your data, start the install process again, and tell it to format the drive (with NTFS). If that isn't possible either, then at a minimum, follow Hippies line of thinking - remove your SDOE install entirely, reboot, go to windows update and get everything (keep going back after each reboot until nothing is showing. They literally have updates for their updates for their updates), then go to ATI, and whoever makes your sound card, and your motherboard, and get the latest drivers for all that. Then re-install SDOE and follow the patch dance and tweak it._________________BlitzPig_DDT on HL (and at Ubi, and at the blitzpig.com forum)

If he upgraded the OS & not the video drivers, that could very well be the issue.

2K uses totally different drivers than 98

upgrading the OS, as DDT said, is not the best way to go, but if your system is that old, XP maybe a little much for it. I'm sure it would run & you can even tone some of the bell & whisles, but I think 2k would be more efficent for older machines.